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Doha breakthrough good for developing countries: McKinnon

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon has welcomed the agreement reached by trade ministers at Doha on a new 'development round' of multilateral trade negotiations saying, "it is good news for developing countries and good news for the world economy."

"The task now is to ensure that Doha delivers actual results for those marginalised by the global trading system," McKinnon said in a statement issued in London Thursday night.

He stressed this should be a genuine development round, and recalled the great disappointment still felt by many developing countries that much of the Uruguay Round had not delivered the expected results.

"We cannot allow the same thing to happen this time. International trade has great potential to combat poverty and we must work towards a multilateral trading system that shares its benefits more equitably," McKinnon said.

He endorsed the priority ministers placed on technical assistance and capacity building for developing countries as well as the need to ensure adequate representation in Geneva to help create the conditions for a level playing field in the forthcoming negotiations, McKinnon said.

Lauding the agreement reached on agriculture, the secretary general said it should lead to complete phasing out of export subsidies.

"A situation where the OECD's annual agriculture subsidies amount to $350 billion, exceeding the GNP of the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, is unsustainable," he said.

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